The owners of Sonoma Grill in Holtsville have inked a deal with the owner of the East Main Street building formerly occupied by the RiverheadProject, RiverheadLOCAL has learned.
Town Supervisor Sean Walter said the new restaurant will be called Sonoma — not Sonoma Grill— and it will be somewhat different from the popular eatery located in the Ramada Plaza Hotel on North Ocean Avenue.
“It will have a cabaret aspect to it,” Walter said building owner Chris Pia told him.
Pia told RiverheadLOCAL in September that he wanted to bring a new family-friendly restaurant at the site, capitalizing on its proximity to the aquarium, but “create more of a club atmosphere” there on weekends.
“Sonoma is going to try to bring some nightlife downtown for the 20- and 30-somethings,” Walter said. “We really need that.”
Pia confirmed that he has signed a lease with the owners of Sonoma Grill but declined further comment.
ToniAnn Cestare, a spokesperson for Sonoma Grill, said Monday that the restaurant owners were “putting together a press release” that will be issued sometime next week.
Sonoma Grill has been in business for 10 years and this spring moved to new expanded quarters inside the hotel. It is owned by partners Glenn Heller and Jason Maher, according to its website, which describes the restaurant as “a casual and family-friendly eatery.”
‘I know people who have eaten there and I’ve heard the food is excellent — good family fare,” Walter said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in mind for Riverhead.”
In order to operate a cabaret at the site, Walter said, Pia will install a sprinkler system in the former bank building, which RiverheadProject owner Dennis McDermott renovated into a restaurant. “We are doing everything we can to help him,” the supervisor said.
The upscale RiverheadProject opened with much fanfare in spring 2011. It operated until just after Labor Day weekend this year, when it was abruptly shut down following settlement of an eviction proceeding Pia had filed in July for nonpayment of rent, security and late fees totaling more than $57,000. Pia purchased the building in February.
“What I put in there will be demographically vetted and embraced by the community,” Pia told RiverheadLOCL in September. He said then had a number of “deals on the table” and predicted, “It won’t be vacant long.”
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